Art concept Swiss Mountain Hotel

jagged rocks meet gentle snowy landscapes

Davos, Switzerland | AMERON HOTEL COLLECTION 2016

The art in the AMERON Swiss Mountain Hotel Davos is no less multifaceted than Davos itself. The Berlin interior designer FINE ROOMS developed an art concept that creates a cultural and historical link to Davos and its immediate surroundings.

The Swiss craftsmanship and tradition, the diversity of the alpine region, its fragile beauty, pure architecture, as well as the local people and the significance of winter sports are the main themes of the art. The selected artists implement the themes using various objects and techniques. Wood and metal sculptures or ceramic art, papercuts, oil paintings, drawings and woodcuts, mural reliefs as well as photography – the means of expression through art are manifold.

Some of the works were especially designed and created by the artists as unique pieces exclusively for the AMERON Swiss Mountain Hotel Davos. The curated display presents the international artists side by side in a most unconventional manner. The delicate nature silhouettes of the floral papercuts by Svenja Karstens stand in contrast to the unyielding geometry of the metal sculptures.

The well-known museum hosting the work by one of the world’s greatest expressionists – Ernst Ludwig Kirchner – can be found in the immediate vicinity of the hotel.
The design of the restaurant takes up the region’s well-known as well as recent themes and motives, interpreting them repeatedly through various perspectives and views. The large colourful oil paintings by the Finnish artist Markus Jäntti in the main restaurant create a powerful impression; they are expressive adaptations of a famous Kirchner motive, the Davos church. Their effect is further enhanced by the wall plates by Markus Hilzinger. The mysterious portraits of Italian film divas were especially crafted for the hotel and are displayed in an orchestration that is worthy of a stage. The wood sculptor Johannes Hepp created a humorous series on the topic of the children of Tessin as a reminiscence of the world-famous sculptors’ symposium Davos H.ART. He found inspiration for this commission work on his travels and studies in the Italian parts of Switzerland.
The two other restaurants also offer an artistic approach to the theme complex, inviting the guests to embrace the different interpretations. The bell room features a graphic display of vibrations and chimes of Swiss mountain church bells. The curved patterns and wavy lines of the moiré-like fine art prints, paired with artfully fashioned paper grids, symbolize the variety and sound spectrum of the medieval time signals as they melodically unfold and slowly fade away again.
In the hunting room, the Berlin photographer Tina Winkhaus put the fruit of a hunt and harvest in scene using dark background. The result is an installation of artificial trophies that gives the room a very special atmosphere.
In the lounge, Isabella Hamann and Markus Hilzinger of FINE ROOMS placed the emphasis on the interplay between human beings and nature. Using the nearly forgotten vintage technique of plate photography, a Polish photographer couple portrays special personalities. FINE ROOMS arranged the silver-coated glass plates into an ancestral gallery of portraits in a unique combination with antique hiking requisites.
The Berlin designers thus created an intimate and homelike ambiance. The hotel library offers a selection of books in accordance with the overall art concept; here the guests can find further inspiration or simply let the day wind down in a quiet moment.
The art in the bar room is dedicated to two crafts that are firmly entwined with the Swiss tradition: lace and architecture.
Delicate feminine beauty meets masculine aesthetic, once again epitomising the cultural duality of Switzerland. The overpainted works by the Berlin artist Wilhelm Beestermöller carry on the theme in the smokers’ lounge. The motives feature a modern interpretation of the famous Swiss freedom fighter Wilhelm Tell.
Beestermöller’s art accompanies the guests also in the spa area. The modern wall paintings create a balanced atmosphere thus enhancing the soothing effects of the wellness area. The aesthetic landscape photographs by the Swiss artist Oliver Kubitz further underline the effect. The breath-taking views of faraway places, awesome cloud formations and romantic starry skies are bound to capture the observer and inspire him to dream.
By displaying selected pieces of art in the AMERON Swiss Mountain Hotel Davos, FINE ROOMS has not only succeeded in presenting new interpretations of the cultural and historical diversity of Davos; also the interior design aspects of the individual areas and the functions and needs of the hotel rooms have been carefully taken into account. Thus, the Berlin designers were able to portray the region’s character and its multifaceted features in their complexity, while at the same painting one harmonious big picture.